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King's Mead Priory was a Benedictine Priory situated west of Derby, in the area currently known as Nun's Street, or Nun's Green.〔 It was the only Benedictine Nunnery in Derbyshire. The Priory was dedicated to "St Mary de Pratis":〔 ''St Mary of the Meadows''. It became a popular place for Derbyshire's noble families to send their daughters to be educated.〔 ==History== King's Mead Priory was founded c. 1160 by Abbot Albinus of nearby Darley Abbey; it was located a mile from Darley Abbey, West of Derby: "in a meadow by the side of the Oddebrook".〔 It was placed under the abbott's care by Walter Durdent who was then Bishop of Coventry. Excavations during development work in the early 19th century revealed the location had previously been the location of a Roman (or less likely Saxon) baths; however it's unclear what, if anything, remained when the priory was founded.〔 The priory was home to a convent of Benedictine Nuns: it was dedicated to "St. Mary de Pratis" and was under the control of Darley Abbey, its parent house.〔 The first Prioress appears to be named Emma; shortly after the Nunnery's foundation a warden was appointed, the first of which was William de Bussel.〔 Part of the priory's income was five pounds paid every year from Nottingham farm rents on the orders of Henry III. In consideration of which the nuns were to say prayers for Henry's father King John.〔 King's Mead's relationship with its parent house, Darley Abbey, began to disintegrate because of disagreements about donations made to the King's Mead.〔 Disagreement reached such a level that Roger Weseham, Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield was forced to intervene in around 1250; he brokered an agreement that freed the Nuns at King's Mead (and their property) from control of the Abbot and Canons at Darley Abbey.〔 Property was firmly divided and it was decreed that Darley Abbey would have "nihil potestatis nihil juris" No Right and No Power over the Priory and its property.〔 In these negotiations, The Nuns at King's Mead gained St Werburgh's Church, Derby, "Welleflat" (a tithe near Mackworth), a mill and adjacent meadow at "Sirreiers", 18 acres of land previously belonging to Ralph Unenath, "Becroft", and some houses in Derby.〔 In return the nuns surrendered to Darley Abbey an acre and a half of land in Scarcliffe and an acre of land in Langwith.〔 During the reign of King Edward I (1272-1307), the priory is recorded as earning an annual rent of £14 for their properties in Derby.〔 They earned an additional six marks of silver from their three mills on the Oddebrook.〔 At this time the priory is recorded as being in control of the manors of Aldewerk, Normanton, Botterleg, and Wytunton.〔 The priory's garden and surrounding land was valued at 20s. a year.〔 A petition was put forward to the king by the priory citing poverty due to the heavy number of visitors they had to entertain. On 2 September 1327, King Edward III granted "his special protection" to the monastery for a period of 3 years (starting December 1327).〔 This was to cover the Priory's property and debts following "unusually heavy mortality amongst their cattle" and "the badness of the past few years".〔 Robert of Alsop and Simon of Little Chester were appointed as custodians of the Priory, as per the nun's wishes.〔 The priory still seems to be in debt seven years after the royal protection was granted, as the nun's poverty is mentioned by the bishop in his letters appointing the new Prioress in December 1334.〔 Also during the reign of King Edward III (1327-1377) the Prioress paid £30 for a license which allowed the priory to take possession of 10 messuages, a mill, four shops, 6 cottages, 50 acres of land and 10 acres of meadow.〔 Henry IV (1399–1413) issued the priory with charters confirming payment to the priory of the annual payment of 100 shillings from the town of Nottingham.〔 Charters also granted them 27 acres of land (with tenements and common pasture) in the Peak forest.〔 During the reign of Henry VII (1485-1509) the Abbott of Burton Abbey lodged a complaint at the Chancery Court against the Prioress of King's Mead, Isabel de Stanley.〔 He claimed that she had refused to pay rent he was owed, for 21 years.〔 When confronted by the Abbot's bailiff, Prioress Isabel is reported to have said: ''"Wenes these churles to overlede me or sue the law agayne me? They shall not be so hardy but they shall avye upon their bodies and be nailed with arrowes; for I am a gentlewoman comen of the greatest of Lancashire and Cheshire; and that they shall know right well."''〔 Isabella de Stanley was closely "related to the nobleman who espoused the mother of Henry VII".〔 In November 1509, Geoffrey Blythe, Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield sent his suffragan Thomas Weell, titular Bishop of Pavada (near Istanbul, Turkey), to ''"inclose Joan Hethe, nun of the priory of the Blessed Mary juxta Derby, for a solitary life in the chapel at Macclesfield."''〔 Weell had the title of Bishop but it was a status title only as there was no cathedral or known congregation. Weell had been the rector of Thorley in Hertfordshire and went on to be a Bishop in the Diocese of Coventry and Litchfield. The Valor Ecclesiasticus in 1535 records the Priory as having an annual value of £21 18s 8d. (£18 6s 2d remaining after expenses), with an additional 40s a year being brought by St Werburgh's Church, Derby.〔〔 This small income (perhaps the reason for the priory's financial problems, poverty and debt) was supplemented with income earned from acting as teachers and providing boarding for their female students: members of local noble families.〔 The Priory seems never to have rectified its financial problems: in the Reign of King Henry VIII (1509-1547) the priory is recorded of having a debt of 20 marks.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「King's Mead Priory」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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